Coast In Bikes

Carolyn and Tristan have been a wonderful cornerstone of the cycling community of Milwaukee, building friendships and encouraging cyclists, one bike at a time. Their shop is fantastic– they are excellent listeners and always have what you need, from good advice about bike parts to some of the best, tried and true cycling gadgets and gear (and some really cool bikes too!). They helped me build an excellent set of wheels that I just love for my commuter bike with a dynamo hub that powers my lights and phone. Having a female presence in a bike shop is something I can appreciate, too, and Carolyn is a wealth of information and support. Highly recommend!

There comes a time in every urban commuter’s life when they look at their second hand pink, camouflage (insert other crazy pattern here) Jansport backpack and decide it makes them look absolutely ridiculous. This happened to me last year, and on a friend’s recommendation (Thanks, Beth P. :)) I hustled over to Coast In to look at some pannier bag options.
They all kinds to choose from (it was a bit daunting) but I went with a black rack on the back, and a black pannier for the bag with a removable plastic liner. The rack has one of those tension, snap tops, and I’ve never had any clothes, bags groceries, etc I’ve put under it fall out. The pannier also converts to a backpack so its quite practical. (Side note: I read a magazine article a few months back about what your choice of purse at a bar says about you. The girl with the backpack: «its just to strange — I mean, what’s that about?» Ha, I take the backpack everywhere so that cracked me up.)
But both the pannier and rack, although not inexpensive have proved invaluable. I have less of that Hunchback of Notre Dame chic going on now that I’m not using a backpack on the bike all the time, and the rack is helpful for trips to the store. The backpack came with a life time warranty too which is great.
I also spied some AWESOME commuter bikes at coast in – all pastel colors (blue, green with built in racks and I think lights). For about $ 600 or so, if I didn’t already have a bike I’d seriously consider one of these.
This is a little off (my) the beaten path for me, but otherwise the location is great — right on second in Walker’s point, between the East Side and Bayview, (right around the time & place the Pedal Tavern people are in the bike lane in full «Wooooo!» mode.).

Such nice people who know a lot about bikes and have a well organized operation! I was planning a bachelorette party for a friend and wanted to do a ride on Saturday. I spoke to three of the Coast In Bikes employees as I was planning from another city and they were all so helpful in picking out equipment and helping me plan our trip. They provided great bikes, helmets, and locks. I’ll use them again!

My wife and I were visiting MKE this weekend for a wedding… got a last minute idea to rent bikes. The folks at Coast In were super accomodating, and had us on our way in no time.
A very cool feature is that you can rent any of the bikes they have in stock; cruisers, mountain bikes, tandems, cargo. Unusual and killer. Also, though we didn’t have need to use it, they have a saddle library, where you can try out something like 20 differnt saddles (Brooks, Selle, etc). If I was in the market I would for sure use this feature.
Finally, they were very flexible on our return time, and answered the phone after hours, allowing us a last minute drop off. HUGE respect, great customer service. I’ll be back!

I love this shop. Tristan and the staff are always friendly and helpful. I’ve had service work done there a few times and the work has been exceptional. They replaced shifter cables that route through the frame a couple of times and troubleshot and fixed a shifting problem which turned out to be a bent dérailleur hanger. The original part they received was faulty. They worked with the manufacturer to fix the problem and had a new one out to me in no time.

I was in from out of town and Tristan made everything go smoothly. Great bike and service! Highly recommend!

+Super nice folks who are clearly *incredibly* knowledgeable about bikes
+Lots of parts and actual bikes in-​stock for purchase; what they don’t have they can special order for you for sure
+Super-​cute retail area in the back of the space w/​helmets, accessories + lots more…
+DIY fix-​it-​yourself nights; pay to play with all of their stuff/​tools, so if you know bikes but just need specialized equipment, this is a great option.
+If you can’t fix it yourself, chances are Coast In can fix it for you
+10% off yr bill when you check-​in on Unilocal,too!

My gears were a little slippery. Brought my bike in on a Friday morning; I had not made an appointment. They did a very thorough drivetrain cleaning for me. The work cost about $ 40 and the bike was done by Friday evening. Now I’ve got about 50 miles on the bike since taking it to Cost In and the gears are solid, no slipping.
Super-​friendly, honest people who know their way around a bicycle. Great location, too. Can’t beat same-​day service with a smile!

Was in Milwaukee for the weekend and wanted to get around without driving (y’know, brewery tours cough cough) so we rented a tandem from these guys. Super helpful and accommodating all the way. The ‘free’ lights they put on for night riding was super helpful after a long day of enjoying Milwaukee’s ‘best’ foods n brews. Would very much rent from here again.

Friendly and knowledgable staff. Nice little shop with a great selection of bikes and accessories.

In town for a few days from Minneapolis and wanted to rent a bike. So glad my boyfriend and I picked Coast In. We were able to choose any bike in the whole store. How fun! My boyfriend rented a fat bike and I a cute Linus. We had a great day exploring the city. The store was super helpful and knowledgable and gave us a lot of good tips for seeing the city. Next time we are in town we are renting bikes from here again!

I love all thing local! Super friendly owner. Super friendly service. I bike past here everyday on my way to work and thought I would stop in to buy a new bike light after an awesome Monday brunch at The Noble. They have a really nice selection of bike bags, bikes – including Linus Bikes-​how cool! The space is clean, cozy, well done.
Odd complaint. No bike parking. I tied my Dutchie to a stop sign. The tool selection could be bigger but this is a new store and I’m guessing they need to find out the needs of the area first before overstocking.
Verdict: Stop in, look around, even better buy a bike and join me on the road! It is a great way to experience MKE! :)
Review upgraded to five stars. They did a REALLY nice job tuning up my Dutch work cycle! Highly recommend!

Bought the living social– brought our bikes down for the tune up. Picked up a few days later– wow what a difference! The drive train is clean and shiny, the gears shift so smooth. The frame cleaning was nice as well. They replaced my cables, for just a few bucks.
The folks here are quite friendly, and really seem to enjoy their venture. They have a fellow on sight manufacturing cargo bikes also. Maybe some day I’ll realize that dream of a bicycle coney island stand. But maybe not.
They’re working on a coffee shop in the back. I wish good luck for them.

This is the best deal for bicycle repair and maintenance on the South Side. Tune-​ups with cleaning start at only $ 50, the repair work is competent and very fairly priced. It’s a two person operation, the pair are friendly, interesting, and bicycle enthusiasts who seem to be expanding their location into some sort of bicyclists hostel. The shop has a limited but interesting array of lights, helmets, bicycles, and wheels. The artistic door makes your first visit worth it. You can rent bicycles here, including cargo bikes.